Soccer practice or training devices are known which simulate soccer goals or other kicking targets and provide for a return of the kicked soccer ball to a kicking location. For example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,615,528; 4,286,786; and 4,083,561, a ramp surface in front of a simulated goal is sloped toward the kicker and causes the soccer ball to roll back toward the kicker under the force of gravity. A disadvantage of those devices is that the return force on the ball is not sufficient to return the ball along a predictable or repeatable path over a grassy or uneven surface. Further, the return force is not sufficient to return the soccer ball a significant distance over an uneven turf or a manmade smooth surface.
To overcome the above disadvantage, U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,820 discloses a soccer ball return device which uses a sloped ramp to collect kicked soccer balls at a lower end of the ramp at one end of the target goal. The collected balls are then fed to a discharge location after which they are struck by a motor driven crank arm that applies a sufficient force to propel the soccer ball a significant distance away from the target goal. While that device is an improvement over the prior passive ball return ramps, the powered ball return has certain disadvantages of its own. For example, on grassy or other uneven surfaces, the trajectory of the ball from the point of impact over the uneven surface is unpredictable both with regard to distance and direction.
Other soccer practice machines, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,386, are specifically designed as self-contained units that return the ball over a man-made smooth surface to a fixed location with respect to a target. While such a device provides a highly reliable and predictable return of the soccer balls, it has the disadvantage of lacking flexibility. For example, the device only provides a kicking practice for one leg and foot. In addition, the distance to goal and kicking surface cannot be varied.
None of the devices disclosed in the prior art provide a single training device that provides a reliable, predictable, high speed, highly repetitive kicking exercise with both, the left and the right, legs and feet.